Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-10-06
FARM NOTES.

Do not feed breeding sows very large
ly on grain. They may be kept in good
condition, but it should be done by more
bulky or partially green food.
To train flock Of sheep raise lamb
at the house, tsach it to come when called
and then put it with the flock. BY
calling the petted lamb the others will fol-
low.
Keeping a close watch over the plow-
point, and having it sharp, or replac-
ing it frequently with a new enc, will Of
ten save ten times the cost of the pillow
in labor.
Many of the ills affecting thethogs are
due to filthy pens. 1t is not so much in
the amount of filth that the difficulty is
met as in the daTpness caused by the
filth.
AS soon as the crop shall have been
re- owed from the garden plot pillow it
ar allow no weeds to grow, which will
gr8 tly lessen the garden work next sea-
sonA
"a COW in milk should never be driven
faster than walk. Good COWS have large
well-filled udders, which cause pain to
them if they are hurried or driven on a
run.
Give the hogs pure, fresh water to drink,
swill will not answer the purpose of water.
A very little salt, wood ashes and char
coal should be thrown into their pens at
times.
Fine manure for crops is more valuable
than coarse. Hens can break up manure
better, perhaps, than any one of the ma
chimes invented for the purpose. Scatter
some wheat over the pile and turn them
on.
Where old peach trees have borne but
little fruit, and the main limbs show evil
dences of decay, cut them back. so as to
allow of an entire new growth. Provided
the borer be not allowed to establish itself,
and the soil be kept clean, the peach tree
will endure any amount of cutting back.
Wood ashes should be used freely in the
peach orchard, and ground bone applied
once year.
Do not attempt to use kerosene and
water together, as the two liquids will not
mix. Hence some plants may be sprayed
with pure kerosene, and others with water.
If kerosene be first mixed with milk or
strong soapsuds, and water then added,
an emulsion may be obtained that will be
well mixed. Many plants are often killed
by improper modes of making the emul-
sion, and too much care in regard to the
use of kerosene cannot be taken.
The proof is within easy reach that three
acres, two acres, and even one acre of
good land can be made to grow all the
grain and forage any COW can eat in 365
days, and her skim milk or whey will pay
for all the foreign substance she needs
to balance the ration that the land pro-
duces. The one, two or three acres will
be required, according to the present
condition of the farm, and the degree of
intelligence and energy there is in the
man or woman at the helm.
Cultivated in the groves, the average
growth In twelve years of several varie
ties of hard wood has been ascertained
to be about as follows: White maple
reaches 1 foot in diameter and 80 feet
in height; ash-leaf maple or box elder,
foot in diameter and 20 feet in height:
white willow, Is inches and so feet; vel
low, Is inches and 80 feet; Lombardy
poplar, 10 inches and 40 feet; blue-and-
white ash, 20 inches and % feet; black
walnut and bItternut, 10 inches and 20
feet.
This weighing OF the milk, testing the
COWS and knowing to the dollar what one
is doing is great help to the dairy
farmer aud, for that matter, to every
farmer. 1t enables him to get rid of the
poor mixers and replace them with good
ones; and the latter costs 10 more to keep
or handle than the former. Then he can
improve his produce by breeding to a
bull of good milking strain, and thus
add additional quarts to each head daily.
Again, he can study what feed is best
calculated to increase the flow of milk.
He can put up ice. and thus keep his
butter in good condition.